Anyone have some experience with Mercury's 4.5l engine? I think they came out about two years ago, can't seem to find much on them.

How do they run?
Are parts expensive and easy to get?
Any problems with the catalytic exhaust?
What's ballpark cost for engine and engine/Alpha package?

Good friend is repowering his 20' Bertram, currently with a 4.3, and he's very interested in the 4.5. He runs the boat daily from March-November, reliability is huge. Fresh water (1000 Islands) only.

I think the cost effective (smarter?) option would be a Mercury manufactured 4.3.

Brad

Nothing like the standard 4.3 L / GM / Merc period - not one same part. The block is Merc speced and has made from a hired foundry

Its a catalyst engine and has a new feature being active trim for a jist. I posted this info up here before so you can search. I have driven boats and even worked on with the Merc 4.5L currently. You are correct it is coming on 2 years from Merc.

I would BUY the Volvo Penta 4.3 240 hp V-6 Direct injection over the Merc any day of the week. That Volvo will smoke any V- 6 marine made engine from any of the marine OEM's V-6 to V6 apps - apples to apples.

It drives like a 5.7 L 350 HO MAG. I could not believe how well it ran and I was in the ocean with it. I am totally impressed what Volvo has done with engine packages for the past 4 years.

There is no comparison between a 4.3 and a 4.5. The 4.5 has way more low end torque. The 4.5 250 is similar to a 5.7 260.I design and install these engines in boats every day and the performance tests don't lie. There is only about 1-2 mph on the top end difference from an older 5.7L, but time to plane and accelerations are almost identical. They are great engines. All of the service points are on the front of the engine, making it much easier to work on.

The active trim is an additional feature that is an add on, not included. Mercury also makes an active trim kit for their entire line up.

Volvo's new lineup is very impressive as BUP stated above.

Thats correct about the active trim but so far what I have seen many come that way from the builder.

Last year we re-powered a 20' Chris Craft with a 4.5L after the 5.0L MPI was frozen/split and kept the original alpha drive ( New T-plate installed)

In the end the customer was more than happy as the boat was alive throughout the power range (no lag) and cheaper on fuel

Thanks for the advice guys. Does the "season extender" work well to drain everything?

BUP- I'll look search for the posts. Will look hard at the Volvo. I've always liked their engines, not familiar with the direct injection models though.

Mason- Ease of maintenance is important. Last engine went 20 years, he takes care of his stuff.

speicher- the Chris is probably not much different from Bert, so I'm happy to hear about good performance. Less fuel is a huge win too.

Keep the comments coming!

Does anyone know what difference there is between the 200HP verson and the 250Hp version... There's about $1500 more in MSRP for the 250 and it rates its power at a higher RPM. Are the engines physically different or is it all in the computer?